Aloria Story Progression Act I - Citizen's Macabre

The general attitude of the Slums was both solemn and silent for most of the week. The revelation that shook the world of Unionism also took the Slums by storm, as widespread fear and rumors of oppression and mind control caused many of the various factions to withdraw to their homes and various hideaways. Many of the gangs remained completely silent on the various matters, investing their time in either managing internal conflicts or debating what to do next with the threat of the Union hanging over their heads.

The start of the week was marked by the kidnapping of the first ever Rat King, Moji Shimizu. A clever attempt by the Hightowers to capture her went swimmingly, before she was released and returned to the safety of the Slums barring a large conflict between several Hightowers, members of House Ravenstad, and the Dead Men. The Hightowers managed to establish themselves once again as a legitimate threat to the Slums and the thought of them having several spies listening set many people on edge.

A joint meeting between Tullius Kearney and Senobia Kopanari to get in contact with the Planetouched resulted in meeting a panicked Donais Kroff, who was quick to tell them that one of his lieutenants had been kidnapped and had yet to turn up. Kroff, known for hasty and violent actions, immediately proceeded forward with a troop of twenty aberrants armed with torches, makeshift weapons, and magic towards the Vampire district to attempt a coup of the Red Court.

Dorian Ardelan and his party of Black Mares attempts to seek out the leader of the Citizen’s Union, Maryse Visser, came to a similarly unfortunate conclusion that was reached by Tullius and Senobia. The second in command of the Citizen’s Union informed the Mares Dorian that Lady Visser had been kidnapped late into the night, her guards left murdered and hung by the rafters in her home. A troop of men from the Citizen’s Union was allotted to the Black Mares in a march towards the Vampire district, meeting with Planetouched and, while not quite joining forces, continued with their makeshift army towards the Vampire District. Dorian, however, did succeed in winning a lot of favor with the Citizens’ Union by playing the role of ‘concerned gang leader’.

The pleas from Ella Conë'jjo nne Sännaré to the Dread Allegiance to get access to their Dulofall grove was mostly a failure, though they did confirm its existence. After some convincing, though, Mëlaakish did agree to infect Llajo’essei Va’shozaal with the disease as a sort of test of competency. The actions of Ella Conë'jjo nne Sännaré went relatively unnoticed, as a majority for the Slums population spent their time drinking, hiding, or rallying against the Vampire District.

As Senobia and Theos Veer both failed to uncover anything of actual substance regarding the plots of the Red Court privately, their plan was somewhat revealed publicly.

As the conjoined forces of the Citizen’s Union, the Black Mares, and the Planetouched marched towards the Vampire district they would notice the area was deathly quiet. Almost fittingly so, with the gruesome scene at the gate of the Vampire district appearing before them. The smell of blood and decay reached out from every corner as they came to a startling halt. The Planetouched were the first to pick out someone from their midst, their missing lieutenant’s body strung up and disemboweled next to a merchant from the Dread Allegiance, who was beheaded and presented on a meat hook. The Citizen’s Union stood baffled by the torn corpses of three of their members, who had been hung from the roofs of the houses flanking, with another hanging upside down in a doorway. The most disturbing aspect, however, was not the blood on the streets, but the clothes and the appearance of the corpses. Each had been, originally, dressed up in the garb of an illustrious theatre, appearing in gowns with an infinite number of tresses or military uniforms decorated with over exaggerated badges of courage and valor, all having now been soaked through in blood. Their faces covered or replaced with pale white masks bearing a single expression of either comedy or tragedy, and their bodies fixed in positions of dramatization by metal rods and wires. Behind this gruesome scene was hung a massive, red curtain.

Those who proceeded past the macabre scene of death followed a long trail of blood, leading all the way up to the new base of the Red Rooks. There in the pathway to the entrance, impaled from head to toe on a spike and fixed with her arms to the sky, was the body of Maryse Visser, the leader of the Citizen’s Union. From head to toe she was adorned with a costume befitting of a leading lady, her hair done up and her face decorated with theatre makeup. A single message was carved into the base of the wooden display:

“We don’t need allies.”​